Feeding mechanism for button-sewing machines



UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER E. BENNETT, OF NEW BBITAIN,-CONNEOTIOUT.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOFt BUT-TON-SEWING MACHINES.,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letterslatent No. 259,996, dated June 2'7,1882.

Application filed February 15, 1882.

l To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, WALTER E. BENNETT, of New Britain, in the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Feeding Mechanism for Button-Sewing Machines, ot' whichthel following is a specification.

My invention relates to feeding mechanism for button-sewin g machines(or other machines requiring an analogous feedin gdevice) in which amagnet, a hopper, and a feeding-trough are combined so that the movementof the magnet raises thebuttons from the hopper and deposits them in thefeeding-trough; and the objects of my invention are to produce a feedingmechanism which shall be simple in construction,

convenient and efiicient in operation, andV a convenient point of themachine for further( operation in any ordinary manner. As such machinesconstitute no part of my-invention, I consider it unnecessary torepresent the same. A l

The feeding-trough A is substantially the same as in otherbutton-feeding mechanisms. Its lower member, a, has a groove in itsupper edge, Haring outward at its mouth (see Fig. l) to receive theshank of the button and allow it to pass atwise through the groove,while the body of the button rests upon the upper edge of a, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2. Its upper member, b, is elevated sufficiently above thelower member to allow the buttons to pass through, as shown. They arestopped by the spring-hook c, and are let out as fast as wanted byremoving the hook away from under the lower end of the trough, all as inprior machines.

The novelty of my feeding mechanism resides in the parts for feeding thebuttons to the trough A. I

, At the upper end of the trough I arrange a wheel, B, mounted so as torevolve on a suit- (N'o model.)

able shaft provided with the pulley O or other suitable means fordriving said wheel. By the side of said wheel B is a hopper, D, madesemicircular in cross-section, but with the end or side toward the wheellarger than the opposite side, whereby the hopper slants toward thewheel, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3. Upon the wheel B, I place one ormore magnets, d d, with their ends about flush with the periphery oftheWheel B and in line with the slot through the trough A, and also so asto leave the ends of the magnets exposed for a short distance upon theside ot the wheel which faces the hopper. Extending from the upper endof the trough, at the top edge of the wheel, there -is a wiper, f,'whichlies close by the side of the Wheel, near its edge. One or moreagitators, g, are secured to the body of the wheel the trough.- When themagnet is moving within the bottom of the hopper only its sides near theends are accessible to the buttons. The Shanks of the buttons areattracted by the magnet and the buttons (one or more of them) arecarried upward while clinging to the sides l of the magnet until theycome'in Contact with the wiperf, as shown at h, Fig. 1.

The upper edge of the wiper at its highest point projects slightly abovethe upper edge of the wheel and ends of themagnets. While the magnet iscarrying a button from tbepoint represented at h, Fig. 1, to the pointrepresented for the button t', Fig.2, the wiper moves A the buttonupward from the sides ofthe mag' net over and upon the ends thereof, andon further forward movement the button is drawn along by its shank intothe trough. AW'henthe magnet is carried away from the trough by therevolution of the wheel the buttons are pulled off the magnet and arefree to -slide down the trough, as in other feeding mechan- ICO isms.The operation is repeated nearly every time that a magnet passes throughthe hopper and by the wiper, thereby depositing one or more buttonsinthe trough. Vhen the trough is full the buttons are carried upward, asbc fore, but fall back into thehopper, so that it is only necessary tohave the wheel move fast enough to keep the trough supplied, and it' itfeeds faster than required no harm will result.

If desired, instead of makingthe hopper so as to cover the edge of thewheel and ends of the magnets, it may be enlarged from a point near thebottom up to that edge which is on the wiper side, so that after themagnets pass the bottom the buttons can cling to the ends of the magnetsas well as to their sides.

I have herein shown a hopper upon only one side of the wheel; but, it'desired, a like hopper might be placed on the other side ofthe wheel andthe magnets exposed therein in like manner.

Other kinds of buttons may be fed by this machine-as, for instance,those with heads or bodies ot' any non-magnetic material and with shanksof iron or otherlnagnetic material.

'lhe machine may also be employed for feeding buttons or analogoussmallarticles which are made of magnetic material throughout, as well asthose in which only part of the article is magnetic.

I prefer to mount the magnet or magnets to move within the hopper upon arevolving wheel; but it is evident that the same result may be attainedby mounting the magnet to move on an oscillating or reciprocating arm orother magnet-carrier.

The feeding-trough, instead of heilig thc one that the button-sewingmachine will come in direct connection with, may bemerelyachute toconvey the buttons to such a trough or to any other trough or machine.The upper end ot' the trough, which receives the buttons from themagnets, is therefore the only part which is essential to my invention.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination of the feeding-trough, thehopper, the magnet, and mechanism for moving the magnet within thehopper and presenting it to the trough, substantially as described, andt'or the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the feeding-trough, the wheel with magnets mountedthereon, and the hopper placed at one side ot' said wheel, substantiallyas described, and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of the feeding-trough, the hopper, themagnet-carrier, and the wiper, substantially as described, and for thepurpose specified.

WALTER E. BENNETT.

Witnesses:

J AMES SHEPARD, JOHN EDWARDS, Jr.

